Al Mistri

A week ago, after losing two overtime matches to Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opponents in one weekend, Al Mistri, Cal State Fullerton soccer coach, told his team that even one defeat in the season's final eight contests would be too many. "The remaining games--it's just do or die for every single one of them," Mistri told the Titans after losses to UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. One week later, and so far, so good.

Al Mistri was planning to return to his native Italy, probably to work in his father's construction business in Bologna, after finishing college at Cal Poly Pomona in 1970. But fate intervened. Mistri was handing out towels in his part-time job at the YMCA when he struck up a conversation with a priest from La Verne Damien High. The priest suggested Mistri apply for a teaching job at Damien, where he might also be able to coach soccer.

Yes, there is life after football at Cal State Fullerton, and it begins with a bouncing ball of a soccer coach named Al Mistri. Remember how the football fetishists wailed at the gates of Titan Stadium last fall? Oh, what have we done, throwing away $10 million on a 10,000-seat white elephant? Whatever shall we do now to pass the autumn months without our weekly fix of 48-7 pastings? It was a most harrowing mystery, but that was before Mistri.

Cal State Fullerton Coach Al Mistri still was feeling a bit drained emotionally from Sunday's marathon NCAA men's soccer playoff game against Creighton. "It's tough when four months of work comes down to penalty kicks," Mistri said, looking down on the playing field from his office in Titan Stadium.

Cal State Fullerton Coach Al Mistri still was feeling a bit drained emotionally from Sunday's marathon NCAA men's soccer playoff game against Creighton. "It's tough when four months of work comes down to penalty kicks," Mistri said, looking down on the playing field from his office in Titan Stadium.

Let's start with a story. It is 1985 and the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. men's soccer ranks belong to a select few. "It was very difficult to schedule," said Al Mistri, Cal State Fullerton men's soccer coach then and now. "Everyone wants you to come to their place. Nobody wants to come here. At a league meeting, I was one of only two coaches who said we should play home and away series with league opponents. It would force some guys to come to our place.

The night belonged to Al Mistri, coach of the underfunded, underfed and underappreciated Cal State Fullerton soccer team that jumps up every so often and chomps the nation's No. 1 team--Indiana, on this occasion--right on the shin bone. This was Mistri's not-ready-for-ESPN moment, but his moment nonetheless. It isn't often Fullerton beats the No. 1 team in the country in anything, so Mistri should have been pumping fists, slapping five, bouncing off walls, howling at the moon.

Al Mistri was planning to return to his native Italy, probably to work in his father's construction business in Bologna, after finishing college at Cal Poly Pomona in 1970. But fate intervened. Mistri was handing out towels in his part-time job at the YMCA when he struck up a conversation with a priest from La Verne Damien High. The priest suggested Mistri apply for a teaching job at Damien, where he might also be able to coach soccer.

Ken Heffe of Artesia High School has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Cal State Fullerton, Titan soccer Coach Al Mistri announced Tuesday. Heffe, a 5-foot-10 defender from Cerritos, was a first-team all-Southern Section selection last season.

The night belonged to Al Mistri, coach of the underfunded, underfed and underappreciated Cal State Fullerton soccer team that jumps up every so often and chomps the nation's No. 1 team--Indiana, on this occasion--right on the shin bone. This was Mistri's not-ready-for-ESPN moment, but his moment nonetheless. It isn't often Fullerton beats the No. 1 team in the country in anything, so Mistri should have been pumping fists, slapping five, bouncing off walls, howling at the moon.

Yes, there is life after football at Cal State Fullerton, and it begins with a bouncing ball of a soccer coach named Al Mistri. Remember how the football fetishists wailed at the gates of Titan Stadium last fall? Oh, what have we done, throwing away $10 million on a 10,000-seat white elephant? Whatever shall we do now to pass the autumn months without our weekly fix of 48-7 pastings? It was a most harrowing mystery, but that was before Mistri.

Let's start with a story. It is 1985 and the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. men's soccer ranks belong to a select few. "It was very difficult to schedule," said Al Mistri, Cal State Fullerton men's soccer coach then and now. "Everyone wants you to come to their place. Nobody wants to come here. At a league meeting, I was one of only two coaches who said we should play home and away series with league opponents. It would force some guys to come to our place.

A week ago, after losing two overtime matches to Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opponents in one weekend, Al Mistri, Cal State Fullerton soccer coach, told his team that even one defeat in the season's final eight contests would be too many. "The remaining games--it's just do or die for every single one of them," Mistri told the Titans after losses to UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. One week later, and so far, so good.

Cal State Fullerton soccer player Demian Brown will be out the rest of the season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Brown was injured in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Portland in Seattle. Brown, a junior defender from Diamond Bar, has started 45 games for the Titans in three seasons and helped lead Fullerton to a 16-7 record and the semifinals of the NCAA playoffs last season. Coach Al Mistri called Brown's injury "a devastating loss."

Cal State Fullerton announced Thursday that Titan men's soccer Coach Al Mistri will assume the added duties of heading the women's program, which will begin play next fall. Mistri, 46, has a career record of 123-97-21 in 12 seasons at Fullerton and guided the Titans to a 12-6 record and a share of the Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation Pacific Division championship this past season.